[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6733-H6734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CALLING FOR EXTENSION OF TAX CUTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bright) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, after traveling my district over the August 
work period, it is clear that my constituents' top concern are jobs and 
the economy. These are the same concerns they have raised for nearly 2 
years since I have been in Congress, indicating that not enough has 
been done to get Americans back to work.
  They also expressed deep worry that the tax relief passed in 2001 and 
2003 will soon expire. In an economy still struggling to recover, 
allowing taxes to increase on nearly all Americans is unacceptable.
  Though many in Washington seem to have just awakened to the idea that 
tax cuts are going to go up next year unless action is taken, I took 
the lead as far back as January in calling for the current tax rates to 
be extended for 2 years as a way to ensure economic stability.
  Our economy is in trouble. We need to stabilize it and give it some 
opportunity to get back on its feet and move forward. There is 
widespread, bipartisan consensus for some of these tax

[[Page H6734]]

breaks to be temporarily extended. Instead of using the issue to score 
political points, let's come together and find a way to extend these 
tax breaks for 2 years and revisit the issue when the economy is on 
better footing. It is the least we can do to provide economic stability 
in an otherwise unstable time. We need to work for America for a 
change, not for party labels. You can't tell me that all Republicans 
are right and all Democrats are wrong. We need to come together as 
Americans and stabilize our economy for the long-term benefit of our 
country as a whole.

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